*Tent on Wheels at DISNEY* Hollywood Studios Day 1

Hollywood Studios was our third park day in a row, and anyone who's been to Disney World knows how much energy it takes to get thru each park, so by day three, we were moving a bit slow!  Mr. Polo left the campground early to check into his hotel for the night and drop off his stuff; he wanted to get to the park early (since he only had one day there, where RDB and I will repeat this park again later this week).  So RDB and I had a leisurely lunch at the camper, then took a boat to the Magic Kingdom, so we could take the Resort line monorail to the Polynesian, for an early afternoon treat of pineapple DoleWhip.

Yes, we went out of our way to get this dessert, but if you know - you know. Cute little side story: as we were standing in line waiting for our turn, a little boy walked past us with a spoon in his fist and his grandma carrying his DoleWhip, "Don't let it fall!" he pleaded with excitement in his voice. Like I said, if you know, you know. ;-)

From the Polynesian we hopped the next bus going to Hollywood Studios and arrived a little after 2pm.  The timing was perfect for us to be able to get a few pictures with the PhotoPass photographers (there was an abundance of them at HS's main street) and then head over to the Indian Jones Stunt Spectacular.  Mr. Polo plopped down beside us before the show started and we were ready!

It was a neat combination of live stunts and 'behind the scenes' action that had us laughing and clapping the entire time.  As we sat there, we were really impressed with the venue itself - plenty of seating, all fully covered from the hot Florida sun, and GIANT fans twirling above to create a very comfortable place to watch a 30 minute show. 

I had only purchased a single Lightening Lane for our Hollywood Studios day - the extremely popular Star Wars ride Rise of The Resistance.  In fact, I was only able to buy the pass for RDB and I since we had 'on property' reservations, which meant that I needed to visit the Blue Umbrella guest experience cast members when we got to the park to see if we could assign Mr. Polo to the time slot we had (by the time you could purchase the LL for off-property guests, they were sold out).  When I say that the cast members want to make the magic happen for you, I really mean it: not only did they get Mr Polo added to our LL, they did it "on Mickey" (meaning, they didn't charge me the $15 dollars!)

Welcome to another planet! The Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge section of the park truly feels immersive - like you've left earth and gone to a completely different universe!

I can understand why fans of the story flock to this park, and after riding the Rise of the Resistance, I can see why it's such a crowd pleaser and sells out each day (keep in mind, you can always use the traditional stand-by line; but at 3pm when we used our LL, it was over a two hour wait via standby!) 

We stepped off that ride exhilarated - and if it wasn't such a long wait to get back in, I'm pretty sure we would have jumped right back on to that one over and over!

It was here that we said our goodbyes to Mr. Polo - we were heading over for our dinner reservation and he would be heading back to NYC in the morning. It was great fun to hang out with him for these first three days in the park!

RDB and I took the Skyliner over to the Caribbean Beach Resort and a short walk later made it to Sebastian's Bistro (yes, the one from The Little Mermaid!) for a family-style dinner.

We loved that our vacation planner, Heather, had made all these different dinner reservations for us because we really had no experience with dining at Disney; as she's said: Disney food is a whole thing.  And after this past week, I believe it!  The pineapple bread pudding with caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream is not to be missed!

We rode the Skyliner back over to Hollywood Studios with the thought of doing another ride or two.  It was a very different feeling to be in the park at night - everything lit up with neon and bright lights.

It's also nice because the crowds seemed to have thinned out a bit - so much so, that we walked right on to Star Tours: The Adventure Continues ride.

If you ever find yourself on a spacecraft with C3PO as the pilot, abandon ship! 

It was a great finish to the Star Wars experience that Hollywood Studios has created and for us, it was a nice way to end the night before a bus ride back over to the Fort.  I couldn't help but giggle - as we were heading back the fireworks at Magic Kingdom were rocketing off and we could catch glimpses of them as we rode along.  Three nights in a row and we've seen the fireworks on three different modes of transportation: our golf cart, the monorail, and now on a bus!

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*Tent on Wheels at DISNEY* EPCOT Day 1

Walt Disney once said "It's kinda fun to do the impossible," and after spending the day at Epcot, not even seeing every country or riding every ride, I can't help but wonder if he was talking about doing all of Epcot in a single day: that would be the impossible!

But that doesn't mean that we weren't able to get in all the things we really wanted to do and see (or taste!) a lot of great things, too!

We started the day by hitching a bus from the Fort over to Epcot, and our Genie+ Lightening Lane was already stacked with a few rides so that we could hit the ground running.  We went over to Soarin' first - a simulated hang-glider ride that all three of us thought might be our favorite of the day.

Walking back across the front of World Celebration, we stopped to take a few pictures.  The spring Flower and Garden Festival is taking place right now (this is the first weekend for it) and so the landscaping is in tip-top condition, with fun topiary sculptures all throughout the park as well.  RDB and I will probably take our second park day this next week to just walk around and enjoy the beauty of it all!

Next up was  Mission: SPACE - there are two different experiences in this same ride - the green path, which is less intense, and the orange path, which is more thrilling.  We went for the orange route, and whoa, y'all! You pull some serious G's in that rocket ride! It's not a roller coaster in the traditional sense (you don't move along a track) but it will definitely disorient you in that fun-not-so-fun kinda way.... when the ride has sick bags beside every seat, boy, you know they know it's going to be interesting!

When you think of Epcot, you likely think of one very visible feature: the big round 'ball!

But did you know that it has a name? Spaceship Earth! And did you know, there's actually a RIDE inside that ball?!  It wasn't until I was planning for this trip that I realized that and you can bet, I wanted to check it out!  We did standby for this one (traditional get in line and wait) since it had just come back on-line from being down for the majority of the morning, it was nearly a walk-on experience for us.

Like many of the older generation of rides, this one isn't a thrill coaster, but more of a sit back and relax educational adventure.

The ride takes you way back in time on a journey of how the world has evolved from the time of cave dwellers, to modern day computers, narrated by Judy Dench. As a writer, you know I was tickled when we moved into the section of the first printing press:

Once you make it to the top of the ride/ball, the cars turn themselves backwards and you slide back down to where you started, all the while imagining what your own great big beautiful tomorrow will look like!

Three rides, including a rocket launch and g-forces, then a slow upwards twirl around in the dark had us ready for food!  We dropped into the shortest (and closest!) line we could find in the first country we came upon in the World Showcase: La Cantina in Mexico.  The tacos were tasty, but finding a table was a trick! After that Mr Polo and RDB and I went different directions - I wanted to visit the Norway section of the Showcase, because I had a specific treat in mind: schoolbread. 

RDB doesn't eat many sweets these days, but I can remember when one of his favorite desserts was Boston Creme Pie - this slightly-sweet bread has a creme filling, and is covered in coconut (another of RDB's fav flavors) and I thought this would be a great treat for him!  I was right! He loved it!

While we were in Norway, we stopped into the chapel of the Gods of the Vikings for a moment.  I just happen to be wearing my Loki on the Frostbridge shirt (which warranted a few compliments thru the day) and have a friend who has a 'thing' for Thor.  The carvings and details inside were exquisite!

From there, we walked over towards Germany for the snack that I had my eyes on: Werther's caramel covered popcorn.  

It smelt delicious, the whole case looked delicious, and the popcorn was.... ok.  I was hoping that it would be one of those life changing kind of vacation treats, like Pineapple DoleWhip, because I loved Werther's hard candies as a kid, but I think I was recently spoiled on incredible good caramel popcorn.  Oh well, it was worth the try!

We were making our way back to the front of the park for our Lightening Lane for Test Track and got sidetracked by Gran Fiesta Tour in the Mexico section.  It's another boat ride (I really like those!) that starts in the back of a restaurant!

We met back up with Mr. Polo at Test Track; he'd already ridden it once, and went thru another two times as a single rider while we went thru it for the first time.  It's a interesting mix of build-your-own digital car and physical indoor ride that ends with an outdoor roller coaster!

Genie+ in this park can certainly have you running all over for your Lightening Lanes.... and so we huffed it back over to France on the far side of World Showcase to make our Remi's Ratatouille Adventure.

It was a neat use of the new rail-less ride technology along with 3D screens and psychical scenes.  I'm not sure it's worth as much of the hype it's received, though - it would be a really long wait for a really short ride.

After the ride, we split ways again; our dinner reservation for Le Cellier in Canada were only for two.  From what everyone told us, it's a miracle we were able to get in (at all) and we should buy lottery tickets since we got in our on our first trip! (No miracle or magic here - it's just that we have an incredible vacation planner in Heather!) 

Our server, Amanda, was absolutely amazing, and the recommendation of the cheddar cheese soup (which has been on the menu for as long as I've been alive) was 100% the right way to start out the meal!  Unfortunately, both RDB and I were exhausted from the heat and running around the park (we downed what felt like gallons of water with that meal) and since we had snacked after lunch, we weren't in the mood for a full meal; however, thankfully, the restaurant had no issue with us splitting a steak!

I wish I had pictures, but trust me when I say: don't miss out on the maple whiskey roasted Brussels sprouts and the mushroom risotto with the truffle butter. I know why everyone raves about this steakhouse now- it was delicious!  One last thing that made this so magical - we opted out of dessert but Amanda was determined to do something special for my birthday: she brought over a light-up cube for me to take home, with the biggest smile on her face!

By the time we finished dinner the sun had set, and Epcot had a completely different, magical feel to it. RDB and I took advantage of the PhotoPass photographers around Spaceship Earth and took several different pictures and poses. 

We got a silly idea (is any idea at Disney silly?) and decided to jump on the monorail and ride it over to Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks; we knew we couldn't go into the park, but just wanted to sit and ride around for a bit.

We made it back to Epcot and decided it was time to head back to the camper, we were beat!  I texted Mr Polo to let him know we wouldn't meet him over in Japan to watch the Epcot fireworks, and gave him directions on how to catch the bus back to Fort Wilderness and RDB and I followed those very directions and took our last ride back to the campground.

It was another wonderful day at Disney!

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*Tent on Wheels at DISNEY* Magic Kingdom Day 1

Wow, where do I even start? We just finished our first day at the Magic Kingdom, I'm propped up in the bed in our camper, RDB snuggled in beside me, our friend Mr Polo on the sleeper-sofa downstairs; I'm in that giddy state of exhaustion that's known as "park life" after a full day at Magic Kingdom for my 40th birthday. It still feels so surreal that we are here, and this is happening, and today we got to ride so many of the most well-known Disney attractions.

We started the day earlier than I expected - we were waiting for a boat from Fort Wilderness by 9am and in the park by 9:30.  It was perfect timing, as I had purchased Genie+ for the three of us and booked our first Lightening Lane for Pirates of the Caribbean at 9:45. A few quick PhotoPass photos to capture that first glance at Cinderella's castle, and we were in line and boarding in no time! 

From there, Mr Polo went off to find a bite for breakfast while RDB and I took a turn on the Liberty Belle Paddleboat.  Since it leaves dock at the top and bottom of every hour, and is about 20 minutes round trip, it's an easy one to fill a bit of time, and it pretty neat to experience - steam engine and all.

It also gave RDB and me a chance to play around a little with the PhotoPass filters that are a part of the Disney App when you've purchased Genie+

We stepped off the boat and right over to the line for It's a Small World - this was one that I was really looking forward to, so iconic, so familiar, so much of a reminder of the Mickey Mouse watch I had as a kid that played this song at the top of the hour.

This was our first wait in line ("Standby" they call it now) and though the app said the line time was close to 45 minutes, our actual time in line was perhaps half that. It just meant we had a little more time to play with the filters in the app (think they've done that on purpose?)

By far, this was the ride I took the most pictures on - I utterly adore Mary Blaire's artwork and style with rich, blocked colors that are so boldly on display throughout the scenes. 

Perhaps one of the cooler things about new technology and these older rides - thanks to the RFID chip in our Magic Bands, the rides can track you as you go along, meaning that as we were exiting the last scene from It's a Small World, RDB and I both had a personalize 'goodbye'!

At this point, we were approaching the lunch hour and decided to leave the park and take the monorail over to the Polynesian and have lunch at the Kona Cafe.  If I'm being 100% honest, it was the first time we had something un-magical about our stay; our waitress was not in the greatest of moods, and the $18 sushi roll(s) RDB and I had were lack-luster to say the least (our local H-E-B has better sushi!).  The steak salads were excellent, though, and the view from our table was interesting, too. 

Back to the Magic Kingdom via monorail and just in time for not one, but TWO parades! One of just Tinkerbelle (I think they call them 'calvacades') and the other of Minnie, Mickey, and Friends all dressed out in their 50th Anniversary EAR-idecent attire!

There were several PhotoPass photographers around the area there in front of the castle, and I wanted to make sure we were making the most of our Memory Maker service, so we stopped off for a few additional poses - including some with a little 'magic' added.  Tinkerbell is right in line with all my other princesses and,  check out this SuperZoom shot!!!

We took a right turn at Cinderella's castle and made our way over to Tomorrowland. Don't ask me why, because it's another non-thrill-ride, but Tomorrowland's People Mover was high on my list of 'must do' rides! We entered the standby line for this one, and it was hot in the afternoon sun, but moved quickly. Once we were on the ride, we just sat back, enjoyed the fully shaded track, and people watched as we were people moved!

Only one picture - I was enjoying the ride!

From here, Mr Polo really wanted to go to the Carousel of Progress; our next Lightening Lanes weren't for another 30 minutes, so we did.  Anyone who says that the "Its a Small World" song is annoying obviously hasn't been to the Carousel of Progress! "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, just a dream away." will be stuck in my head for a while!

Not a single picture of that one, cause I think I might have taken a nap (I know Mr. Polo sure did!)

Genie+ and the Lightening Lane system is an odd resource.  Yes, it's nice to be able to skip the lines on some attractions, but it would let you occasionally book two things in one space.  Which is exactly what happened with our afternoon slot.  Good news is that you have an hour window to return to your ride, but it takes a little planning to make sure you're doing it right.

So we zoomed on over to Tomorrowland's Speedway and all got in our own cars to motor around the loop.  I was in first place! (only because I got in the first car - there's no racing here, you're confined to one track!)

After we were done we raced over to the Haunted Mansion, another slow-moving, easy going ride.  Even with the Cast Members trying to keep us in line ("You mere mortals.... you foolish fiends...."), it wasn't scary or fast paced, but certainly had plenty for us to look at and take in.  Thinking of taking things in, having Mr Polo is like having a personal poparazzi - he was taking pics and videos thru the entire day and turning them into really incredible stories on his Insta and FB.  

I think this pic from PhotoPass pretty much sums it up:

We kept backing tracking left of the Castle to make our way over to Adventureland for dinner at the Jungle Skipper Cantina. A few beers and sangrias were a much needed refreshment as we enjoyed our dinners with a side of corny jokes.

Speaking of corny jokes, there were many of those to be had on the actual Jungle Cruise ride; unfortunately, our Lightening Lane for that one wasn't for another two hours and by this time, we were all about ready to call it a day and cruise on back to the campground.  I had learned from several of the FaceBook groups that we're in that if you had any kind of a dilemma with your Genie+, to go to a cast member under the blue umbrellas and they can help you out; so, as we left Jungle Cantina, we happened right into a blue umbrella, told them we'd been there since rope drop and we were done, but the only thing we had left was the LL for Jungle Cruise, and could they please help?  With a "Happy Birthday" and a tap of our Magic Bands, the cast member opened up the Jungle Cruise LL and told us to go enjoy the ride now, and have a safe trip home.

This really is the happiest place on earth!

Just as expected, all the corny jokes, all the punny humor, and of course, the backside of water (how did I not get a pic?!) and we could mark this one off the list and consider it a day of rides well spent!

One last walk down Main Street, a few more PhotoPass photos, just one more parade, and were back on a boat heading to Fort Wilderness.

For our first day at Disney, and my 40th birthday, I not sure I could have asked for a more magical day. 

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